SLM Corp.'s Floating-Rate Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series B About To Put More Money In Your Pocket

On 12/4/13, SLM Corp.'s Floating-Rate Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series B (NASD: SLMBP) will trade ex-dividend, for its quarterly dividend of $0.4939, payable on 12/16/13. As a percentage of SLMBP's recent share price of $68.03, this dividend works out to approximately 0.73%, so look for shares of SLMBP to trade 0.73% lower — all else being equal — when SLMBP shares open for trading on 12/4/13. On an annualized basis, the current yield is approximately 2.90%, which compares to an average yield of 5.96% in the "Financial" preferred stock category, according to Preferred Stock Channel.

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As of last close, SLMBP was trading at a 31.97% discount to its liquidation preference amount. Investors should keep in mind that the shares are not cumulative, meaning that in the event of a missed payment, the company does not have to pay the balance of missed dividends to preferred shareholders before resuming a common dividend.

The chart below shows the one year performance of SLMBP shares, versus SLM:

Below is a dividend history chart for SLMBP, showing historical dividends prior to the most recent $0.4939 on SLM Corp.'s Floating-Rate Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series B, par value $0.20 per share:

According to the ETF Finder at ETFChannel.com, SLM Corp. (NASD: SLM) makes up 1.19% of the Guru Index ETF (GURU) which is trading higher by about 0.4% on the day Monday.

In Monday trading, SLM Corp.'s Floating-Rate Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series B (NASD: SLMBP) is currently trading flat on the day, while the common shares (NASD: SLM) are up about 0.1%.